New evidence suggests that a former top staffer for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) may be directing the post-election efforts of Fusion GPS, a Democrat-linked political opposition research firm, to vindicate a series of memos alleging illegal collusion between the Donald Trump campaign and Russian officials

A Glimmer of Hope Dear A-Letter Reader:In the April 17, 2002 A-Letter, I wrote about an obscure type of treaty called a "MLAT," or Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. MLATs give governments the right to gather evidence and seize assets without a judicial hearing and in some cases, with no right of appeal to any court. The treaties essentially override all confidentiality laws that might otherwise apply. And their one-sidedness is an invitation to serious abuse.The US has more than 50 MLATs in effect, more than any other country. Since the first MLAT came into effect in 1977, they have been...

Jean Duley testified that she was "scared to death" of Bruce Ivins after he left her a string of harassing phone messages, according to an audio recording taken during a July 24 peace order hearing. Duley, 45, told Judge Milnor Roberts that Ivins planned to "go out in a blaze of glory," had bought a bulletproof vest and a gun and planned to kill his co-workers. The audio recording was obtained by The Frederick News-Post on Monday. Duley told the court she got to know Ivins while running group and individual counseling sessions at the Comprehensive Counseling Associates in Frederick...

Endorsement, appointment included in billionaire's connections Ebay founder Pierre Omidyar's politics have become the subject of blog commentary because the web auction site over the last week repeatedly scrubbed an offering of an allegedly genuine copy of President Barack Obama's birth certificate – from Mombasa, Kenya. But the company said it wouldn't get involved in any discussion of Omidyar's activities or political statements. Spokeswoman Evonne Gomez said, "We certainly wouldn't comment on our founder's political concessions or beliefs. He is not involved in the day-to-day operations of the company." She said if a question was submitted in writing, she would...

On January 20, 2001, John Lewis did not attend George W. Bush’s inauguration. He didn’t make a big deal about it, but Bush losing the popular vote coupled with the contentious Florida recount left Lewis feeling less than magnanimous. According to contemporaneous press accounts, the Georgia congressman and civil rights icon spent Inauguration Day in his Atlanta district. Lewis was hardly the only prominent Democrat who had trouble accepting the new president after the 2000 election was finally decided. Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Jesse Jackson trashed the U.S. Supreme Court and questioned Bush’s “legitimacy.” Recognizing the starkness of...

Simmering tensions between Harry Reid and Tom Daschle are erupting into an all-out feud. Daschle is expressing frustration with the Senate majority leader (D-Nev.) for refusing to endorse Rick Weiland, a former Daschle aide who is running for the South Dakota seat held by retiring Sen. Tim Johnson (D). Reid last year declared Weiland was “not my choice” in the race, and this summer added, “We are going to lose in South Dakota, more than likely.” Asked if those comments hurt Weiland’s chances, Daschle told The Hill, “Well, it certainly hasn’t helped.”

Gone (temporarily, I hope!) but DEFINITELY not forgotten! Quinn and Rose are off the air, but they WILL be back! Meanwhile, our friendly group of dedicated FReeper Q&R fans will meet in our usual spot - same time, same station - as we always have! So grab your coffee - or whatever you choose to start your day - and drop in for some political chit-chat, or just to shoot the breeze!

Herseth Sandlin passes on Senate run, leaving Republicans with early edge to win seat. ... Democrats had targeted the onetime congresswoman, who served from 2004 to 2011, as their top recruit in a seat currently held by retiring Sen. Tim Johnson. Even if Johnson had decided to run for another term, Republicans would have considered the solidly-Republican state one of their top pickup opportunities of the 2014 election. ... The state's former GOP governor, Mike Rounds, has already declared he will seek the Republican Party's nomination. While Rounds announced his campaign early and has high name-identification in the state, he...

WASHINGTON –While visiting a mosque in the Washington area last week, a senior White House security official lavished praise on a Muslim cleric who happens to be a top leader of the radical Muslim Brotherhood in America, FBI investigators point out. "They are so ignorant," said one FBI veteran regarding the White House. "This is unbelievable bullsh--." White House sources explain that deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough was unaware of the cleric's radical ties, and added that the presidential assistant attended the outreach event as a show of support for the Muslim community ahead of Thursday's congressional hearings on...

WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Friday named Mark Lippert, a Navy veteran and Pentagon official, as his chief of staff. Lippert, 40, currently assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, takes over May 1 as Hagel’s right-hand man. Marcel Lettre, Hagel’s acting chief of staff for the moment, will become Lippert’s deputy, and later move to an still-undetermined senior position, officials said. A White House insider, Lippert has ties to both Hagel and President Barack Obama that stretch back years. He accompanied both men, when they were still senators, on a 2008 visit to Afghanistan,...

Teen Pilot Kept to Himself By PAT LEISNER Associated Press Writer January 6, 2002, 12:10 AM EST PALM HARBOR, Fla. -- The high school freshman who stole a small airplane and crashed it into a high-rise building Saturday was a quiet boy who kept to himself and bartered for his flight lessons by cleaning airplanes. Flight school officials said Charles J. Bishop, 15, was well versed in the operations at National Aviation Academy, where he had been taking lessons since March 2001. Bishop was presumed dead in the crash, authorities said Saturday night. He was a year shy of being ...

WASHINGTON — Cabinet secretaries, top congressional leaders and an exclusive group of senior U.S. officials are exempt from toughened new airport screening procedures when they fly commercially with government-sanctioned security details. New heightened security procedures by the Transportation Security Administration, which require either a scan by a full-body detector or an intimate personal pat-down, have spurred passenger outrage in the lead-up to the Thanksgiving holiday airport crush. The senior government officials can opt out of such measures if they fly accompanied by government security guards approved by the TSA. The agency would not explain why it makes these exceptions, but...

While speculation has wielded mostly around senior advisor Pete Rouse as White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel's replacement should he run for mayor of Chicago, CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer went on the record Tuesday with another pick-- former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle. "The president could do worse than Tom Daschle," Schieffer said. "I'm not in the business of advising presidents on who to hire or what to do, but he would be a very interesting choice." "Chiefs of staff make an enormous difference in any White House- Republican or Democrat," Schieffer told CBS News' Jan...

The Republican primary for the third congressional district is heating up as September approaches. Even to have a Republican primary for this seat is nothing short of astounding but to have five candidates vying for it is even more astounding. Running for the seat are Robert Chipman, Robert Delle, Marty Lamb, Michael Stopa, and Brian Herr. The most notable of these candidates is Marty Lamb who has quite a presence on Facebook. It was much to my amusement today that I saw a post from his campaign on my Facebook news feed. I replied to it reminding everyone that Mr....

Democrats do not have a firm grip on the votes needed to pass sweeping healthcare reform legislation in the House of Representatives, one House leader admitted on Sunday. But the White House insisted that its reform efforts were “in the final chapter”. Barack Obama has given Democrats a March 18 deadline for the House to pass the Senate version of a healthcare reform bill before he leaves on a trip to Asia, leading to a frenzy of arm-twisting and vote tallying on Capitol Hill. With previous deadlines missed, veteran Democrats are warning that the legislation must be completed before the...

Here is local news video that happened to come upon a man whose car was stuck in the Washington D.C. snowstorm slamming the city last night and today. The man turned out to be former Democrat Senate Majority Leader tom Daschle. He was trying to push his car, and the reporter and crew jumped in to help him out. Forecasters were predicting between 20-30 inches of snow overnight and today! (VIDEO)

Look who's at the health care negotiating table -- Tom Daschle. The former Senate Democratic leader's nomination as health and human services secretary was derailed over a back taxes flap earlier this year. But that's not stopping Daschle, a close ally of President Barack Obama, from playing a significant role in Capitol Hill health care talks -- much as he'd be doing if he'd actually gotten the job. The outsized role is unusual for someone who's an adviser to lobbying firms, especially given Obama's campaign vow to change business as usual in Washington. Daschle was in a strategy meeting earlier...

By now, millions of Americans are familiar with Anita Dunn, who recently resigned her post as Barack Obama’s White House Communications Director after it was learned that she had previously cited Mao Zedong, the late Communist dictator and mass murderer, as one of her “favorite political philosophers.” By contrast, few people know anything substantive about Dunn’s husband, Robert Bauer, who has replaced Gregory Craig as President Obama’s White House Counsel. Craig resigned abruptly on November 13, after having repeatedly denied, for weeks, that he had any plans of stepping down. A 1976 graduate of the University of Virginia School of...